H-ton Girls’ Volleyball Ready to Reorganize for Fall Season

With the Huntington girls’ varsity volleyball team graduating a core group of seniors, it’s time for the Blue Devils to reorganize following another good year. The team once again qualified for the playoffs and finished the season with a winning record.

Captained by seniors Lauren Donaghy, Brianna Borenstein and Bella Morris and coached by Todd Donaghy, Huntington overcame injuries to make the playoffs in back to back years for the first time in decades.

Lauren Donaghy claimed All-League and All-Classification honors with Borenstein, Morris and Emily Barba all being recognized as All-League.

Donaghy, who plays setter, completed her Huntington volleyball career as the school’s all-time leader in assists with 1,182. She holds the record for single season assists with 522 and is fourth all-time in service aces with 100.

Borenstein, who plays outside hitter completed her career with 303 kills, which places her fourth all-time in the rally scoring era. She is tied with Kate Barba for most kills in a single match with 32.

“Lauren Donaghy had another outstanding season for us,” Coach Donaghy said. “After a record setting performance last season, she may have had the best match of her career on senior night.”

Needing a win, the senior led the team to victory with 12 kills, 24 assists, 15 digs and four service aces. “I obviously know Lauren's ability to step up in big moments, so without Brianna, I asked her to step up and do a little bit of everything for us that day and she did just that and then some,” Coach Donaghy said.

Despite an injury, Borenstein also enjoyed a “very good” season. “She led the team in kills and had a record tying performance (rally scoring era) with 32 kills in a match against Amityville,” Coach Donaghy said. “The one thing we truly missed when Brianna’s season was cut short was her passing. We struggled at times in serve receive not having her on the court. Brianna had a tremendous career here at Huntington High School.”

Barba was a varsity standout as a sophomore. “Emily did just about everything for us this season,” Coach Donaghy said. “She was second on the team in kills, first in digs and service aces and anchored our serve receive. Emily moved from libero last season to outside hitter this year and she did a phenomenal job. Coaches around the league admired her competitiveness.”

Morris stays under the radar to an extent, letting her play speak for itself. “Bella Morris was one of those kids whose stats don’t show how valuable she was to us when she was on the court,” Coach Donaghy said. “Bella did just about everything for us. Her dedication and love of the sport showed up each and every day. She came to practice with a smile on her face and led by example. Having a relatively young team, she was the perfect pick to be one of our captains because she showed that young group what it takes to get to where she eventually got.”

Huntington had big shoes to fill. “After losing an all-state, record setting outside in Kate Barba and a middle who arguably had one of the best seasons out in that position in years in Neurdia Osias,” Coach Donaghy said. “I wasn't sure what to expect this season. We had some tremendous talent returning, but we were in a re-tooling phase and expectations had to be tempered. Clinching a playoff berth on the final day of the regular season against a strong opponent in Bellport was by far the biggest accomplishment of the year.”

Huntington finished fourth in the league and eighth in Suffolk. “This was a fantastic group of kids to be around,” Coach Donaghy said. “We were undersized and in some cases had people playing out of position, but they worked hard each and every day and accomplished something that I wasn’t sure could happen this year. They made playoffs! It goes to show if you put in the effort and give 100 percent, 100 percent of the time anything can happen.”

Looking ahead to next fall, Barba is expected to lead the Blue Devils. “With her passion for the sport and her talent she should have a great season,” Coach Donaghy said. Barba tallied 109 digs and 40 services aces this past year.

“Next season will be another re-tooling season,” Donaghy said. “We lose three great players, but have 11 returning; some with a good amount of court experience. So depending on how long it takes to gel, they will have two full seasons together on the court to make a deep run in the playoffs possibly in two years.”